The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Many configurations of hanger devices have been developed for mounting and orienting an isolator, used to isolate an exhaust component of a motor vehicle, to a portion of a vehicle body. Traditionally, single hole isolators have required mounting to some sufficiently stiff and rigid portion of the vehicle body through the use of a hanger, as shown in FIG. 1. Typically the isolator support bracket having a rubber isolator element mounted therein is bolted using one or more threaded bolts to a selected portion of the vehicle body. A separate hanger, typically welded to the exhaust component, has a distal end thereof pushed through a hole in the rubber isolator element. The length of the hanger also to be sufficiently long to provide space the rubber isolator element far enough from the exhaust component so that the rubber isolator element is not damaged by the heat from the exhaust component. This mounting configuration has the drawback of necessitating that the vehicle manufacturer designate a specific portion of the vehicle body that provides sufficient area, strength and stiffness to accommodate the required mounting bracket and threaded bolt(s). This has proven to be challenging with some vehicles. Other well known forms of isolators, such as shown in FIG. 2A, require multiple hangers. Each isolator shown in FIG. 2A requires two independent hangers, one fixedly secured (e.g., by welding) to the exhaust structure and the other fixedly secured (e.g., by welding) to a body portion of the vehicle. The system of FIG. 2 thus requires a total of four independent hangers for its use. FIG. 2B shows a prior art hanger configuration where a pair of hangers and a corresponding pair of brackets were required to achieve the needed degree of modal stiffness and strength, when supporting an exhaust component.
Conventional two hole isolators lack travel control and durability compared to single hole isolator designs. Three and four hole isolator designs require multiple inefficient heavy hangers, along with the time and labor required to install the required hangers on the vehicle body itself. Three and four hole isolator designs also typically provide less than optimal durability compared to bolt-to-body designs (i.e., as shown in FIG. 1). The need for providing two or more holes in the isolator can reduce its strength and durability.